Research Question: Are equal funds being distributed to RI schools to produce equal opportunity? Contributed by: Kyle Hollenbeck
Summary Article
Education Trust, Washington, DC. (2001). State Summary of Rhode Island. Ed Watch Online., ED459260, 27. Retrieved November 27, 2010, from the ERIC database.
To quote the article directly, "this report provides data on the academic achievement gap that separates low-income and minority students from other students, examining how well different groups of students perform in Rhode Island and noting inequities in teacher quality, course offerings, and funding." The products of this report that I chose to focus on were those that related inequity of funding to the achievement gaps of RI. It is shown by this report (which, might I add, was made in 2001) that RI spent $4,912 per student on those in the highest child poverty settings while spending $5,740 per student in areas with the lowest child poverty. Also, districts with the highest minority enrollment received $5,020 per student while those with the lowest minority enrollment received $5,719 per student. SAT scores from 2000 were also provided and separated by race showing that, on average, African American RI students scored 834, Asian 911, Latino 824, White 1,032, and total 1,005. The percentage of students who took the SATs that year in RI was 4.5% African American, 4.6% Asian, 5.9% Latino, .1% Native American, and 84.9% White.
In response to this article I am very surprised at the racial makeup of RI students who took the SATs in 2000. This could show that perhaps White students are more driven to take the SAT rather than minority students seeing as the schools with the lowest minority enrollment receive $699 more per student than those with the highest minority enrollment. If schools with higher minority enrollment were given more funds and focus perhaps more of their students would be encouraged and compelled to take the SATs and have the proper education to perform well on them. I am not as surprised that school districts with the lowest child poverty receive $828 more per student than those with the highest child poverty as it has been shown to be a common occurrence around the nation by both Kozol and Ravitch; however, I would hope that that distribution of funds would have been changed by now and, if not, will be changed currently through RI's new economic plan for its schools.
This article describes the Woonsocket School Committee v. Carcieri case (February 2010) which concerned RI's finance formula being claimed as "a political compromise between the legislature and affluent communities" by the School Committee of Woonsocket itself, represented by attorney Steve Robinson. Robinson felt that the new funding formula set up by the state legislature that was being praised as the "nation's best" will fail to spread equity throughout RI schools and "fully address the needs of students from poverty backgrounds and English-Language Learners." Robinson noted that the current form of state funding toward school districts has hardly any basis on poverty students and that the new funding formula only mildly increases the funding for low-income districts "without accounting for student needs" and sends a significant amount of its funds to the more affluent districts of the state. Robinson's main concern with the new finance formula is that it will focus too much on the percentage of students from poverty backgrounds in a district to decide how much financial aid they will receive rather than the district's actual ability to "raise funds through property taxation".
My reaction to this essay is sympathizing while at the same time reluctant. I feel as though the Woonsocket School Committee did/does have a good case to be brought up and does point out some definite (what I find to be) flaws in the financing formula. However, I also feel that the changes that need to be made to the school system in regards to funding must be taken slowly in order to cause less disturbance to the members of the system all together. I feel that over the next few years RI legislature should cut back on the school funding they send the wealthier communities rather than taking a fair amount of they're aid away all at once. This will give those districts that will lose aid time to prepare and make the necessary cuts.
This article from the Providence Journal written by Julia Steiny talks about the new/first RI funding formula and describes its hopes and ambitions. One of the major problems she states with the formula is that many of the current schools already spend a few $1000 over the designated per-pupil amount to be spent on districts which is around $8,300. To solve the inequity of funding without adding additional funds, seeing as the state of Rhode Island is in some financial trouble, the proposed plan is to remove some funding from the wealthier districts and transfer it to those that are poorer and unable to raise enough school funding themselves. In addition to this, the funding formula developers have proposed the idea of a "market basket" approach through which the state will pay for certain aspects of the costs of education such as "teachers, supplies, curriculum materials, and so forth." The costs left out of the basket will be those that the communities themselves will have to cover such as food services, transportation, teacher pernsions, maintenance and upkeep of the school buildings themselves, and out-of-district tuition.
Steiny makes the point that these costs left out of the basket are pretty substantial and should not be left to just the communities to handle themselves (especially not the poorer ones).
I agree with Julia Steiny for the most part in her discussion of the new RI funding plan. I feel that it is a good decision to start swapping money over from the wealthier school districts to the poorer school districts and that it is good to proceed with this task slowly as to produce as little opposition to the plan as possible. However, I also agree with Steiny in the way that some pretty hefty expenses were left out of the "market-basket" and left for the communities to handle themselves. She does make a good point at the close of her article though that the new funding plan may be flawed but at least it's getting people talking about where school funds are being used and at least RI now has an actual funding formula.
This article describes the new funding formula in RI and talks about the changes that will be made to the current system of funding as well as describe RI's previous funding formula. In the past 15 years through which RI did not have a funding formula, the state would base its funding of schools on each schools' performance the previous year. For example, if the school did not perform well the previous year in regards to test scores and state milestones, the funding would remain stagnant. If the school did perform well they may see an increase in state aid and a decrease if its performance was surprisingly low. This system was corrupt in which it did not account for the schools that were already in a rut and could not increase they're performance without state aid. The new system bases its fund distribution mostly on enrollment and the community's ability to fund its own school education. However, critics of the new plan claim that it does not focus enough on students from poverty backgrounds and ELLs.
Before reading this article I did not realize how long Rhode Island had gone without having an actual funding formula and how many schools must have struggled from a significant lack of state aid. Although I am not completely satisfied with the state's new plan I do feel that it is a big step towards greatness as far as a funding formula goes. Simply having a funding formula and setting up reasons and bounds for funding will lead to more discussions of how funds should be distributed and what they should be used on. School Districts will most likely begin to voice their opinions more about the funding formula and be able to bring more towards equity.
Scholarly Article
Augenblick, J.G., Myers, J.L., & Anderson, A.B. (1997). Equity and adequacy in school funding. The Future of Children, V7-3 (63-78), Retrieved from JSTOR
This article describes ways in which states can lead their funding formula to greater heights of equity. It also describes the despair and reality of many funding formulas that provide more aid for the wealthier suburban districts rather than the poorer urban ones. Including is an article which describes the evolution of state funding formula reform and how, in many states, the funding formula has become a state-wide interest in which many of the state's school districts are involved in constantly updating in an attempt to provide funding equity. Through the article, it is shown that although Rhode Island's state per pupil funding range is small, it is relatively high in comparison to the other states of America in regards to its funding of wealthier districts. The article describes that there is no easy way to determine funding equity and that no one solution will work for everywhere. The plan for an equal funding formula depends upon the are that is being focused on rather than what worked elsewhere.
I agree with this article in the way that it states that funding equality for districts is difficult to map and compare among states. Each state has vastly different school districts as well as different needs and performance results for each of these districts. I agree with the statement that one funding formula may work brilliantly in one state and end in disaster in another. I was somewhat surprised in Rhode Island's comparison to other states in regards to its favoring wealthier communities; however, given its past 15 years of funding I would believe that were this report to be made now, Rhode Island would in the same position as 1997 if not higher. Hopefully Rhode Island's new funding formula will lead the state to find its own path to greater equity among its school districts.
Contributed by: Kyle Hollenbeck
Summary Article
Education Trust, Washington, DC. (2001). State Summary of Rhode Island. Ed Watch Online., ED459260, 27. Retrieved November 27, 2010, from the ERIC database.
To quote the article directly, "this report provides data on the academic achievement gap that separates low-income and minority students from other students, examining how well different groups of students perform in Rhode Island and noting inequities in teacher quality, course offerings, and funding." The products of this report that I chose to focus on were those that related inequity of funding to the achievement gaps of RI. It is shown by this report (which, might I add, was made in 2001) that RI spent $4,912 per student on those in the highest child poverty settings while spending $5,740 per student in areas with the lowest child poverty. Also, districts with the highest minority enrollment received $5,020 per student while those with the lowest minority enrollment received $5,719 per student. SAT scores from 2000 were also provided and separated by race showing that, on average, African American RI students scored 834, Asian 911, Latino 824, White 1,032, and total 1,005. The percentage of students who took the SATs that year in RI was 4.5% African American, 4.6% Asian, 5.9% Latino, .1% Native American, and 84.9% White.
In response to this article I am very surprised at the racial makeup of RI students who took the SATs in 2000. This could show that perhaps White students are more driven to take the SAT rather than minority students seeing as the schools with the lowest minority enrollment receive $699 more per student than those with the highest minority enrollment. If schools with higher minority enrollment were given more funds and focus perhaps more of their students would be encouraged and compelled to take the SATs and have the proper education to perform well on them. I am not as surprised that school districts with the lowest child poverty receive $828 more per student than those with the highest child poverty as it has been shown to be a common occurrence around the nation by both Kozol and Ravitch; however, I would hope that that distribution of funds would have been changed by now and, if not, will be changed currently through RI's new economic plan for its schools.
Analysis Article
Breton, T. (2010). Lawsuit claims r.i. school funding formula discriminates. The Providence Journal. Retrieved from http://newsblog.projo.com/2010/02/woonsocket-and-pawtucket-schoo.html
This article describes the Woonsocket School Committee v. Carcieri case (February 2010) which concerned RI's finance formula being claimed as "a political compromise between the legislature and affluent communities" by the School Committee of Woonsocket itself, represented by attorney Steve Robinson. Robinson felt that the new funding formula set up by the state legislature that was being praised as the "nation's best" will fail to spread equity throughout RI schools and "fully address the needs of students from poverty backgrounds and English-Language Learners." Robinson noted that the current form of state funding toward school districts has hardly any basis on poverty students and that the new funding formula only mildly increases the funding for low-income districts "without accounting for student needs" and sends a significant amount of its funds to the more affluent districts of the state. Robinson's main concern with the new finance formula is that it will focus too much on the percentage of students from poverty backgrounds in a district to decide how much financial aid they will receive rather than the district's actual ability to "raise funds through property taxation".
My reaction to this essay is sympathizing while at the same time reluctant. I feel as though the Woonsocket School Committee did/does have a good case to be brought up and does point out some definite (what I find to be) flaws in the financing formula. However, I also feel that the changes that need to be made to the school system in regards to funding must be taken slowly in order to cause less disturbance to the members of the system all together. I feel that over the next few years RI legislature should cut back on the school funding they send the wealthier communities rather than taking a fair amount of they're aid away all at once. This will give those districts that will lose aid time to prepare and make the necessary cuts.
Opinion Article
Steiny, J. (2010, June 20). Julia steiny: funding formula wil allow us to see where dollars go. The Providence Journal, Retrieved from http://www.projo.com/education/juliasteiny/content/EDWATCH_20_06-20-10_15ISLCK_v7.16889dd.html
This article from the Providence Journal written by Julia Steiny talks about the new/first RI funding formula and describes its hopes and ambitions. One of the major problems she states with the formula is that many of the current schools already spend a few $1000 over the designated per-pupil amount to be spent on districts which is around $8,300. To solve the inequity of funding without adding additional funds, seeing as the state of Rhode Island is in some financial trouble, the proposed plan is to remove some funding from the wealthier districts and transfer it to those that are poorer and unable to raise enough school funding themselves. In addition to this, the funding formula developers have proposed the idea of a "market basket" approach through which the state will pay for certain aspects of the costs of education such as "teachers, supplies, curriculum materials, and so forth." The costs left out of the basket will be those that the communities themselves will have to cover such as food services, transportation, teacher pernsions, maintenance and upkeep of the school buildings themselves, and out-of-district tuition.
Steiny makes the point that these costs left out of the basket are pretty substantial and should not be left to just the communities to handle themselves (especially not the poorer ones).
I agree with Julia Steiny for the most part in her discussion of the new RI funding plan. I feel that it is a good decision to start swapping money over from the wealthier school districts to the poorer school districts and that it is good to proceed with this task slowly as to produce as little opposition to the plan as possible. However, I also agree with Steiny in the way that some pretty hefty expenses were left out of the "market-basket" and left for the communities to handle themselves. She does make a good point at the close of her article though that the new funding plan may be flawed but at least it's getting people talking about where school funds are being used and at least RI now has an actual funding formula.
Analysis Article 2
Jordan, J.D. (2010). New financing formula could alter balance. The Providence Journal, Retrieved from http://www.projo.com/news/content/regents_approve_funding_formula_03-04-10_U8HL_v70.3a67e2c.html
This article describes the new funding formula in RI and talks about the changes that will be made to the current system of funding as well as describe RI's previous funding formula. In the past 15 years through which RI did not have a funding formula, the state would base its funding of schools on each schools' performance the previous year. For example, if the school did not perform well the previous year in regards to test scores and state milestones, the funding would remain stagnant. If the school did perform well they may see an increase in state aid and a decrease if its performance was surprisingly low. This system was corrupt in which it did not account for the schools that were already in a rut and could not increase they're performance without state aid. The new system bases its fund distribution mostly on enrollment and the community's ability to fund its own school education. However, critics of the new plan claim that it does not focus enough on students from poverty backgrounds and ELLs.
Before reading this article I did not realize how long Rhode Island had gone without having an actual funding formula and how many schools must have struggled from a significant lack of state aid. Although I am not completely satisfied with the state's new plan I do feel that it is a big step towards greatness as far as a funding formula goes. Simply having a funding formula and setting up reasons and bounds for funding will lead to more discussions of how funds should be distributed and what they should be used on. School Districts will most likely begin to voice their opinions more about the funding formula and be able to bring more towards equity.
Scholarly Article
Augenblick, J.G., Myers, J.L., & Anderson, A.B. (1997). Equity and adequacy in school funding. The Future of Children, V7-3 (63-78), Retrieved from JSTOR
This article describes ways in which states can lead their funding formula to greater heights of equity. It also describes the despair and reality of many funding formulas that provide more aid for the wealthier suburban districts rather than the poorer urban ones. Including is an article which describes the evolution of state funding formula reform and how, in many states, the funding formula has become a state-wide interest in which many of the state's school districts are involved in constantly updating in an attempt to provide funding equity. Through the article, it is shown that although Rhode Island's state per pupil funding range is small, it is relatively high in comparison to the other states of America in regards to its funding of wealthier districts. The article describes that there is no easy way to determine funding equity and that no one solution will work for everywhere. The plan for an equal funding formula depends upon the are that is being focused on rather than what worked elsewhere.
I agree with this article in the way that it states that funding equality for districts is difficult to map and compare among states. Each state has vastly different school districts as well as different needs and performance results for each of these districts. I agree with the statement that one funding formula may work brilliantly in one state and end in disaster in another. I was somewhat surprised in Rhode Island's comparison to other states in regards to its favoring wealthier communities; however, given its past 15 years of funding I would believe that were this report to be made now, Rhode Island would in the same position as 1997 if not higher. Hopefully Rhode Island's new funding formula will lead the state to find its own path to greater equity among its school districts.
Eval-ReformIssues-KyleW